Multi-stage water saving toilet

ABSTRACT

A multi-stage water saving toilet includes a toilet bowl, a toilet tank, a flushing device, and a control device includes a drive member, a rechargeable battery, a display, a set and operation unit including a set button, a selection button, an increase button, a decrease button, a test button, a urine flushing button, and an excrement flushing button, a microprocessor for controlling the display and the drive member, a power unit being either deactivated when the set and operation unit is not activated or activated to supply power from the battery to the microprocessor, the drive member, and the display. The toilet can be set to a minimum quantity of water for flushing urine or excrement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to water saving toilets and more particularly to amulti-stage (e.g., three-stage) water saving toilet.

2. Description of Related Art

Various devices for limiting the quantity of water used by flush toiletsin order to conserve water (i.e., water saving devices for toilets) arewell known in the art. Water required for a single flushing of toilet isin the range of 20 to 30 liters about 20 to 30 years ago. Fortunately,the required quantity of water has been decreased to about 4.5 to 9liters due to, in part, the availability of various water saving devicesfor toilets.

Disposing human excrement and urine is the function of a toilet.However, many typical water saving toilets are not effective in thedisposal in a single flushing due to factors, for example, long seweragepipes.

It is understood that water is a precious resource. Therefore, how tofurther decrease the quantity of water used by flush toilet without theineffective disposal experienced by the conventional water savingtoilets is an issue to be addressed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a multi-stagewater saving toilet comprising a toilet bowl; a toilet tank mounted onthe toilet bowl and comprising a valve seat on a bottom; a controldevice comprising a drive member; and a flushing device comprising abracket provided on an inner surface of the toilet tank, a trip leverpivotably secured to the drive member, a rope pivotably secured to thetrip lever, and a flap pivotably secured to the valve seat and attachedto the rope; wherein the control device further comprises a rechargeablebattery; a display; a set and operation unit including a set button, aselection button, an increase button, a decrease button, a test button,a urine flushing button, and an excrement flushing button; amicroprocessor for controlling the display and the drive member; a powerunit being either deactivated when the set and operation unit is notactivated or activated to supply power from the battery to themicroprocessor, the drive member, and the display; wherein a setting ofthe set and operation unit comprises pressing the set button to activatethe power unit, releasing the set button, a first pressing the selectionbutton to set a quantity of water of a first stage by pressing theincrease button or the decrease button one or more times, a secondpressing the selection button to set a quantity of water of a secondstage by pressing the increase button or the decrease button one or moretimes, a third pressing the selection button to set a quantity of athird stage by pressing the increase button or the decrease button oneor more times, and a fourth pressing the selection button to set delaytime by pressing the increase button or the decrease button one or moretimes, pressing the test button to confirm the settings and activate thecontrol device for testing, and pressing the set button to store thesettings in the microprocessor; wherein in an excrement flushingoperation a pressing of the excrement flushing button supplies powerfrom the battery to the power unit which powers the microprocessor torotate the drive member a predetermined angle, counterclockwise rotatethe trip lever about the drive member to lift both the rope and the flapto flow the quantity of water of a first stage through the valve seat toreach an entry of the toilet bowl so that a partial vacuum is created atthe entry of the toilet bowl, the flap is lowered to close the valveseat for the delay time with excrement being sucked to the entry of thetoilet bowl, and the flap is lifted again to flow the quantity of waterof a third stage through the valve seat and the toilet bowl tocompletely flushing the excrement out of the toilet bowl; and wherein ina urine flushing operation a pressing of the urine flushing buttonsupplies power from the battery to the power unit which powers themicroprocessor to rotate the drive member a predetermined angle,counterclockwise rotate the trip lever about the drive member to liftboth the rope and the flap to flow the quantity of water of a firststage through the valve seat to reach an entry of the toilet bowl sothat a partial vacuum is created at the entry of the toilet bowl, theflap is lowered to close the valve seat for the delay time with urinebeing sucked to the entry of the toilet bowl, and the flap is liftedagain to flow the quantity of water of a second stage through the valveseat and the toilet bowl to completely flushing the urine out of thetoilet bowl.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description taken withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a multi-stage water saving toiletaccording to the invention;

FIG. 1B is a view similar to FIG. 1A schematically showing the flushingdevice in the toilet tank;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the control device;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the flushing devicein the toilet tank;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing the flushing devicein the toilet tank and the control device disposed externally of thetoilet tank in an inoperative state;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the control device beingactivated to open the toilet valve;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing the control device beingactivated to close the toilet valve;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the display, the microprocessor, the setand operation unit, the drive member, and the flushing device foropening or closing the toilet valve; and

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of the display, the microprocessor, the setand operation unit, and the power unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1A to 9, a multi-stage water saving toilet inaccordance with the invention comprises the following components asdiscussed in detail below.

A toilet tank 3 is mounted on a toilet bowl 4. A flushing device 1 ismounted inside the toilet tank 3. A control device 2 is adapted tocontrol the flushing device 1.

The flushing device 1 comprises a bracket 11 provided on a wall. Thecontrol device 2 as the subject of the invention is capable ofcontrolling flushing, setting quantity of water for flushing, andshowing operating state and is discussed in detail below. The controldevice 2 comprises a drive member (e.g., servo motor) 21 provided on amost effective position of the bracket 11, a rechargeable battery 22electrically connected to an external power source via a power cord andplug 26, a display 23 on an upper central portion, an excrement flushingbutton 246 to the right of the display 23, and a urine flushing button247 below the excrement flushing button 246.

The flushing device 1 further comprises a trip lever 12 having one endpivotably secured to a motor shaft of the drive member 21, a rope 13having one end pivotably secured to the other end of the trip lever 12,and a bifurcated flap 14 having a point attached to the other end of therope 13. The flap 14 has two arms pivotably secured to a valve seat 31provided on a central portion of a bottom of the toilet tank 3.

Within the housing of the control device 2, there are further provided apower unit 25, a microprocessor 26 for controlling the display 23 andthe drive member 21, and a set and operation unit 24 comprising, inaddition to the excrement flushing button 246 and the urine flushingbutton 247, a set button 241, a selection button 242, an increase button243, a decrease button 244, and a test button 245 all being disposedunder the display 23 and to the left of the urine flushing button 247.The power unit 25 can regulate DC from the battery 22 and supply powerto all components of the control device 2 except and the battery 22.

Setting of the set and operation unit 24 is described below. For a firsttime, a person should perform the following setting steps. The personmay press the set button 241 to activate the power unit 25 of theflushing device 2 with “SET” being shown on the display 23 after twoseconds. Next, the set button 241 is released and the selection button242 is pressed. As such, “SET1: XX” representing quantity of water of afirst stage will be shown on the display 23. A next pressing of theselection button 242 will show “TIME: XX” representing delay time on thedisplay 23. A further next pressing of the selection button 242 willshow “SET2: XX” representing quantity of water of a second stage (i.e.,for flushing urine) on the display 23. A yet further pressing of theselection button 242 will show “SET3: XX” representing quantity of waterof a third stage (i.e., for flushing excrement) on the display 23. A yetanother further pressing of the selection button 242 will show “SET1:XX” representing delay time on the display 23 (i.e., returned to thestarting point). The person may press the increase button 243 or thedecrease button 244 one or more times to adjust the value of XX which istemporarily stored in memory of the microprocessor 26 until a desiredvalue is obtained. Further, the person may press the test button 245 toconfirm the final settings of “TIME”, “SET1”, “SET2”, and “SET3” andactivate the control device 2 for testing. The person may press theselection button 242 again to start another setting if he/she does notsatisfy the test result. After finding the optimum settings, the personmay press the set button 241 again to store the settings in the memoryof the microprocessor 26 with “READY” being shown on the display 23 forconfirmation and the power unit 25 being deactivated.

It is noted that the power unit 25 is deactivated when none of thebuttons of set and operation unit 24 is pressed (i.e., power to thepower unit 25 being cut by the battery 22) so as to save energy.

Operation of the invention will be discussed in detail below. Forflushing human excrement, a person may press the excrement flushingbutton 246 to activate the power unit 25 by supplying power from thebattery 22 to the power unit 25. The microprocessor 26 is thus poweredby the power unit 25. And in turn, the drive member 21 is activated bythe microprocessor 26 to rotate a predetermined angle. And in turn, thetrip lever 12 counterclockwise rotates about the drive member 21 to liftthe rope 13. And in turn, the flap 14 is lifted by the rope 13 to flow aquantity of water of a first stage through the valve seat 31 to reachthe entry of the toilet bowl 4. A partial vacuum is created at the entryof the toilet bowl 4. The flap 14 is lowered to close the valve seat fora period of time equal to the set delay time. In the meantime, theexcrement is sucked to the entry of the toilet bowl 4. Next, the flap 14is lifted again to flow a quantity of water of a third stage through thevalve seat 31 and the toilet bowl 4 to completely flushing the excrementout of the toilet bowl 4.

Alternatively, for flushing human urine, a person may press the urineflushing button 247 to activate the power unit 25 by supplying powerfrom the battery 22 to the power unit 25. The microprocessor 26 is thuspowered by the power unit 25. And in turn, the drive member 21 isactivated by the microprocessor 26 to rotate a predetermined angle. Andin turn, the trip lever 12 counterclockwise rotates about the drivemember 21 to lift the rope 13. And in turn, the flap 14 is lifted by therope 13 to flow a quantity of water of a first stage through the valveseat 31 to reach the entry of the toilet bowl 4. A partial vacuum iscreated at the entry of the toilet bowl 4. The flap 14 is lowered toclose the valve seat for a period of time equal to the set delay time.In the meantime, the excrement is sucked to the entry of the toilet bowl4. Next, the flap 14 is lifted again to flow a quantity of water of asecond stage through the valve seat 31 and the toilet bowl 4 tocompletely flushing the urine out of the toilet bowl 4.

While the invention has been described in terms of preferredembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-stage water saving toilet comprising: atoilet bowl; a toilet tank mounted on the toilet bowl and comprising avalve seat on a bottom; a control device comprising a drive member; anda flushing device comprising a bracket provided on an inner surface ofthe toilet tank, a trip lever pivotably secured to the drive member, arope pivotably secured to the trip lever, and a flap pivotably securedto the valve seat and attached to the rope; wherein the control devicefurther comprises a rechargeable battery; a display; a set and operationunit including a set button, a selection button, an increase button, adecrease button, a test button, a urine flushing button, and anexcrement flushing button; a microprocessor for controlling the displayand the drive member; a power unit being either deactivated when the setand operation unit is not activated or activated to supply power fromthe battery to the microprocessor, the drive member, and the display;wherein a setting of the set and operation unit sets a quantity of waterof a first stage, a quantity of water of a second stage, a quantity ofwater of a third stage, and a delay time; wherein in an excrementflushing operation a pressing of the excrement flushing button flushesexcrement out of the toilet bowl in three continuous stages by flushingthe quantity of water of a first stage and the quantity of water of athird stage; and wherein in a urine flushing operation a pressing of theurine flushing button flushes urine out of the toilet bowl in threecontinuous stages by flushing the quantity of water of a first stage andthe quantity of water of a second stage.
 2. The multi-stage water savingtoilet of claim 1, wherein the drive member of the control device isprovided on a most effective position of the bracket.
 3. The multi-stagewater saving toilet of claim 1, wherein the power unit is deactivatedwhen none of the buttons of the set and operation unit is pressed so asto save energy, decrease the consumption of the battery, and decreasethe frequency of replacing the battery.
 4. The multi-stage water savingtoilet of claim 1, wherein the display is capable of showing messagesfor viewer review so as to facilitate operation.
 5. The multi-stagewater saving toilet of claim 1, wherein the setting of the set andoperation unit is done when first time operating the control device andthe setting of the set and operation unit comprises pressing the setbutton to activate the power unit, releasing the set button, a firstpressing the selection button to set the quantity of water of a firststage by pressing the increase button or the decrease button one or moretimes, a second pressing the selection button to set the quantity ofwater of a second stage by pressing the increase button or the decreasebutton one or more times, a third pressing the selection button to setthe quantity of water of a third stage by pressing the increase buttonor the decrease button one or more times, and a fourth pressing theselection button to set the delay time by pressing the increase buttonor the decrease button one or more times, pressing the test button toconfirm the settings and activate the control device for testing, andpressing the set button to store the settings in the microprocessor. 6.The multi-stage water saving toilet of claim 1, wherein in the excrementflushing operation the pressing of the excrement flushing buttonsupplies power from the battery to the power unit which powers themicroprocessor to rotate the drive member a predetermined angle,counterclockwise rotate the trip lever about the drive member to liftboth the rope and the flap to flow the quantity of water of a firststage through the valve seat to reach an entry of the toilet bowl sothat a partial vacuum is created at the entry of the toilet bowl, theflap is lowered to close the valve seat for the delay time withexcrement being sucked to the entry of the toilet bowl, and the flap islifted again to flow the quantity of water of a third stage through thevalve seat and the toilet bowl to completely flushing the excrement outof the toilet bowl; and wherein in the urine flushing operation thepressing of the urine flushing button supplies power from the battery tothe power unit which powers the microprocessor to rotate the drivemember a predetermined angle, counterclockwise rotate the trip leverabout the drive member to lift both the rope and the flap to flow thequantity of water of a first stage through the valve seat to reach anentry of the toilet bowl so that a partial vacuum is created at theentry of the toilet bowl, the flap is lowered to close the valve seatfor the delay time with urine being sucked to the entry of the toiletbowl, and the flap is lifted again to flow the quantity of water of asecond stage through the valve seat and the toilet bowl to completelyflushing the urine out of the toilet bowl.